Mobile electronic apparatus, and battery pack for the apparatus

ABSTRACT

A mobile electronic apparatus in which various functions can be easily added without impairing the mobility and without making any change in the hardware. The mobile electronic apparatus is carried by its authorized user to perform various types of electrical information processing, and has an attachment part detachably attached to a main body of the apparatus for performing a predetermined function, which attachment part has an input/output section for inputting/outputting information. The apparatus also has an interface section for transferring input/output signals relating to the information between the attachment part and the main body. The invention is applicable in mobile electronic apparatus having an attachment part detachably attached thereto, internet appliances such as cell phones, mobile electronic information terminals, and PDAs.

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/811,655,filed Mar. 20, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to mobile electronic apparatus (e.g.,internet appliances such as cell phones, mobile electronic informationterminals, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)) having an attachmentpart (battery pack, etc.) detachably attached to the electronicapparatus and also relates to a battery pack for the electronicapparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

Multifunctional mobile electronic apparatus (various types of potableelectronic information terminals and cell phones) nowadays not onlyfunction as electronic notepads or telephones but also receive/transmitelectronic information and image information via wired/wirelessnetworks. Further, such mobile electronic apparatus can also be used inbank account settlement, electronic commerce, or securities trading. Forrealizing these varying functions in one mobile electronic apparatus,various types of applications are started or executed in the mobileelectronic apparatus.

When such applications are started or executed in the mobile electronicapparatus, an ID and a password must be input for each application.Likewise, when bank account settlement or electronic commerce is made, abank account number and a personal identification number (PIN) must beinput.

In general, ID and bank account number are previously stored in a memoryor the like so that the user is unnecessary to input such numbers byhimself/herself, while the password and the PIN must be input by theuser with push or touch buttons (ten keys) for verifying the user.

Further, mobile electronic information terminals, cell phones inparticular, nowadays serve as phone books and communicators for sendingand receiving electronic-mail messages. In conventional apparatus,phone-book data or electronic-mail massages are input by the user withpush or touch buttons (ten keys). As provided originally for the purposeof inputting telephone numbers, such touch buttons are inconvenient inuse for inputting letters or characters because some troublesomeprocedures, namely, pressing the same key several times, are required.

As described above, user verification is carried out by inputtingpasswords or personal identification numbers (PINs) in the conventionalmobile electronic apparatus. Yet many of users tend to use a string ofcharacters or digits that are relevant to their personal peripheral data(for example, the user's or family member's name or birthday, telephonenumber, favorite word, etc.) as a password or a PIN. Assuming that amobile electronic apparatus with such passwords or PINs registered isstolen or lost, it is a danger that an unauthorized person might use theapparatus in an evil purpose. Therefore a mobile electronic apparatuswith increased security has been cherished.

To resolve this problem, user verification with use of biometricinformation such as a fingerprint has ever been tarried. As a practicalmatter, however, it is difficult to introduce such user verificationfunction utilizing biometric information into a huge number of existingmobile electronic apparatus already been widely spread. For instance, ifbiometric user verification is performed in plural systems, devices andsoftware corresponding to individual types of operation systems arerequired. In view of cost, however, it would be difficult to providesuch devices and software to all those systems.

Despite of the great convenience realized by the function of bankaccount settlement, electronic commerce, or stock trade equipped in theconvention mobile electronic apparatus, there remains a serious problemof poor security. Moreover, because of poor extendability of mobileinformation terminals, cell phones in particular, it is difficult to addany form of user verification function afterward. Accordingly, in orderto realize biometric verification in a mobile electronic apparatus, notan add-on to the mobile electronic apparatus but an independent devicefor user verification that works in association with the mobileelectronic apparatus has been cherished.

Furthermore, in the conventional mobile electronic apparatus, cellphones in particular, because of the use of touch buttons (ten keys),which are originally provided to be used in inputting telephone numbers,in inputting letters or characters, troublesome procedures arenecessitated thereby requiring a long time. So, further expansion of theI/O function has long been desired.

For this, there has been longed for an easy way of expansion of the I/Ofunction in existing mobile electronic apparatus, making the apparatusmore user-friendly. It is also desired to provide the user verificationfunction of great importance to the existing mobile electronic apparatusin a simple way.

When introducing an additional function into the mobile electronicapparatus such as cell phones and mobile electronic informationterminals, an additional apparatus to execute the additional functiontends to be connected to the mobile electronic apparatus via a cable sothat the use of the mobile electronic information terminal is limited todesktop use despite of its name “mobile”.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With the foregoing problems in view, one object of the present inventionis to provide a mobile electronic apparatus in which various functionscan be added and expanded in a simple manner, without impairing themobility of the mobile electronic apparatus and without making anychange in hardware of a mobile electronic apparatus currently being puton the market, thus improving the user friendliness.

Another object of the invention is to provide a battery pack for theabove-mentioned mobile electronic apparatus.

In order to accomplish the above object, according to the presentinvention, there is provided a mobile electronic apparatus having thefollowing generic features (1) through (6):

(1) the mobile electronic apparatus comprises: a main body; anattachment part detachably attached to the main body for performing apredetermined function when attached to the main body, which attachmentpart has an input/output section integrally formed with the attachmentpart for inputting/outputting information (data); and an interfacesection for transferring input/output signals relating to the last-namedinformation (data) between the main body and the attachment part.

(2) The attachment part may be a battery pack having an input sectionintegrally formed with the battery pack for inputting information(data), which battery pack is detachably attached to the main body fortransmitting the input signal input from the input section to the mainbody via a power supply terminal. As a preferred feature, the batterypack may include a signal synthesizing circuit for carrying the inputsignals, which are input by the input section, onto a power supplyvoltage to be supplied from the battery pack to the main body, and themain body may include a signal separating circuit for separating andpicking up the input signals carried on the power supply voltage. As afurther preferred feature, the main body may have a converting sectionfor converting the input signals, which are separated and picked up bythe signal separating circuit, into key-input-pattern signals.

(3) The mobile electronic apparatus comprises: the main body; anattachment part detachably attached to the main body for performing apredetermined function when attached to the main body; an input section,formed integrally with the attachment part, for measuring biometricinformation of an object person to be verified and inputting themeasured biometric information; an extracting section, which is formedintegrally with the attachment part and operatively connected with theinput section, for extracting biometric feature information from thebiometric information, which is measured and input by the input section,for verification of the object person; and an interface section,disposed between the main body and the attachment part, for sending thebiometric feature information from the extracting section to the mainbody.

(4) The mobile electronic apparatus comprises: a main body; anattachment part detachably attached to the main body for performing apredetermined function when attached to the main body; theabove-mentioned input section and extracting section formed integrallywith the attachment part; a comparing/verifying section, formedintegrally with the attachment part and operatively connected with theextracting section, for verifying the object person by comparing thebiometric feature information extracted by the extracting section withreference biometric feature information about the authorized user whichinformation is previously obtained; and an interface section, disposedbetween the main body and the attachment part, for sending the result ofverification by the comparing/verifying section to the main body.

(5) The mobile electronic apparatus comprises: a main body; anattachment part detachably attached to the main body for performing apredetermined function when attached to the main body; theabove-mentioned input section, extracting section, andcomparing/verifying section, formed integrally with the attachment part;a storage section, formed integrally with the attachment part, forstoring personal data of the authorized person; a personal data read-outsection, formed integrally with the attachment part and operativelyconnected with the storage section and the comparing/verifying section,for reading out the personal data from the storage section when thebiometric feature information of the object person is identical with thereference biometric feature information of the authorized user as theresult of verification by the comparing/verifying section; and aninterface section, disposed between the main body and the attachmentpart, for sending to the main body the personal data, which is read outfrom the storage section by the personal data read-out section.

(6) The attachment part may be a battery pack equipped with theabove-mentioned input section, extracting section, comparing/verifyingsection, storage section, personal data read-out section, and also asignal synthesizing circuit for carrying the personal data, which isread out by the personal data read-out section, onto a supply powervoltage from the battery pack to the main body, which battery pack isdetachably attached to the main body of the mobile electronic apparatus.And the main body includes: a signal separating circuit for separatingthe voltage signal carried on the supply power voltage to pick up thepersonal data; and a converting section for converting the personaldata, which is separated and picked up by the signal separating section,into a key-input-pattern signal.

Further, a battery pack for the mobile electronic apparatus, accordingto the present invention, has the following generic features (7) through(11):

(7) the battery pack is adapted to be detachably attached to a main bodyof a mobile electronic apparatus which is able to be carried by anauthorized user for performing various electronic information processes.The battery pack comprises: a casing adapted to be attached to the mainbody of the mobile electronic apparatus; a battery received in thecasing; an input/output section, formed integrally with the casing, forinputting/outputting information (data); and an interface section,formed integrally with said casing, for transferring input/outputsignals relating to the last-named information (data) between theinput/output section and the main body when the casing is attached tothe main body. In this instance, the interface section may furtherinclude a signal synthesizing circuit, formed integrally with the casingand operatively connected with the battery, for carrying the inputsignals, which are input by the input/output section, onto a powersupply voltage to be supplied from the battery pack to the main body.

(8) The battery pack has the input section, the extracting section, andthe interface section, described above in (3), which sections areintegrally formed with the casing of the mobile electronic apparatus.

(9) The battery pack has the input section, the extracting section, theverifying/comparing section, and the interface section, described abovein (4), which sections are integrally formed with the casing of themobile electronic apparatus.

(10) The battery pack has the input section, the extracting section, theverifying/comparing section, the storage section, the personal dataread-out section, and the interface section, described above in (5),which sections are integrally formed with the casing of the mobileelectronic apparatus.

(11) The battery pack has the input section, the extracting section, theverifying/comparing section, the storage section, the personal dataread-out section, and the signal synthesizing circuit, described abovein (6), which sections are integrally formed with the casing of themobile electronic apparatus.

Accordingly, partly since the mobile electronic apparatus of the presentinvention has the input/output section (keyboard, etc.) forinputting/outputting information (data), formed integrally with theattachment part (replacement part/function part), which is detachablyattached to the main body of the apparatus, and partly sinceinput/output signals relating to the data are transferred between theinput/output section and the main body through the interface section(for example, an optical communications section, a radio communicationssection, a connector, an electric contact, and a cable), it is possibleto add various types of additional input/output (I/O) functions to anexisting mobile electronic apparatus merely by replacing an existingattachment part (replacement part/function part) with an attachment partof the present invention, without the risk of impairing the mobility ofthe mobile electronic apparatus and without making any modification tohardware, thus resulting in the improved user friendliness.

Moreover, in the mobile electronic apparatus of the present invention,when adding and extending a new I/O function to the apparatus, aninput/output section for realizing the additional function can bedetachably attached to the main body in an extremely ease way. And also,since the battery pack, which is attached to the main body, has theinput/output section integrally formed therewith, it is easy to arrangethe interface section between the input/output section and the mainbody.

Further, partly since the input/output section (keyboard, etc.) forinputting/outputting information (data) is formed integrally with thebattery pack to share the battery pack with the main body, and partlysince the input signal is transmitted via a power supply terminal (DCterminal) for the battery pack, it is possible to add various types ofadditional input/output (I/O) functions to an existing mobile electronicapparatus merely by replacing an existing battery pack with the batterypack having the input section of the present invention, without the riskof impairing the mobility of the mobile electronic apparatus and withoutmaking any modification to hardware, thus resulting in the improved userfriendliness.

In this instance, when adding and extending a new I/O function to theapparatus, the input/output section for realizing the additionalfunction can be detachably attached to the main body in an extremelyease way due to the input section that is formed integrally with thebattery pack.

Furthermore, since the input signal from the input section is carriedonto a power supply voltage by the signal synthesizing circuit, and isthen, on the main body side, separated and picked up from the voltage bythe signal separating circuit, the power supply terminal for the batterypack can serve as both a power supply and an interface at the same time,thus making it possible to transmit the input signal from the inputsection to the main body without using any newly equipped construction.Accordingly, it is resultantly possible to send the input signal fromthe input section, which serves as a keyboard, camera, tablet, userverifying device, or the like, to the main body, without the need for aninterface newly equipped in hardware, or without making any change inthe design of the existing mobile electronic apparatus.

Still further, since the input signal, which is separated by the signalseparating circuit, is converted by the converting section into akey-input-pattern signal treated in the main body, it is possible tokeep the compatibility between the signal from the input section and thesignal input through a keyboard originally equipped to the main body,thereby making it possible to treat these signals withoutdiscrimination.

In the meantime, the following processes are performed on the batterypack side of the present invention. The input section measures andinputs biometric feature information of an object person to be verified,from which measured and input biometric information the extractingsection extracts biometric feature information for verifying the objectperson. The extracted biometric feature information for userverification is then sent from the battery pack to the main body sidevia the interface section, thereby enabling the main body to use thethus obtained biometric feature information for user verification.

Therefore, since the biometric user verification can be easilyassociated with the mobile electronic apparatus merely by replacing anexisting battery pack with the battery pack of the present inventionhaving the input section, the extracting section, and the interfacesection, without the risk of impairing the mobility of the mobileelectronic apparatus and without making any modification to hardware, itis possible to most easily add to the conventional mobile electronicapparatus a user verification function that effectively performs varioustypes of verification processes, which have nowadays been introducedinto the conventional mobile electronic apparatus, thereby improving theuser friendliness.

And further, the following processes are performed on the battery packside of the present invention. The input section measures and inputsbiometric feature information of an object person to be verified, fromwhich measured and input biometric information the extracting sectionextracts biometric feature information for verifying the object person.After that, still on the battery pack side, the comparing/verifyingsection compares/verifies the extracted biometric feature information ofthe object person with reference biometric feature information, and theresult of the comparing/verifying is then sent from the battery pack tothe main body via the interface section, thereby enabling the main bodyto execute a corresponding process in response to the result of theverification.

Therefore, since the biometric user verification can be easilyassociated with the mobile electronic apparatus merely by replacing theexisting battery pack with the battery pack of the present inventionhaving the input section, the extracting section, thecomparing/verifying section, and the interface section, without the riskof impairing the mobility of the mobile electronic apparatus and withoutmaking any modification to hardware, it is possible to provide theconventional mobile electronic apparatus with a user verificationfunction in which various types of verification processes havingnowadays been introduced into the conventional mobile electronicapparatus will be effectively performed, thereby improving the userfriendliness.

Furthermore, the following processes are performed on the battery packside of the present invention. Using the input section, the extractingsection, and the comparing/verifying section, if it is recognized thatthe biometric feature information of the object person is identical withthe reference biometric feature information of the authorized user, thepersonal data read-out section reads out the personal data from thestorage section. The thus read-out personal data is then sent from thebattery pack to the main body via the interface section. With thisconstruction, it is possible to provide the mobile electronic apparatusand the battery pack with the function of storing and managing thepersonal data of the authorized user by using biometric information.

In other words, it is possible to protect or guard the authorized user'spersonal data stored in the mobile electronic apparatus by usingbiometric information, which is free of being stolen or faked. Forexample, the user must be verified using finger print information beforesending the personal data to the main body, thereby an access to thepersonal data is permitted in the main body, thus guaranteeing a highestdegree of security.

Therefore, it is possible with ease to associate the storage sectionprotected by the biometric user verification with the mobile electronicapparatus merely by replacing an existing battery pack with the batterypack of the present invention having the input section, the extractingsection, the comparing/verifying section, the storage section, thepersonal data read-out section, and the interface section, without therisk of impairing the mobility of the mobile electronic apparatus andwithout making any modification to hardware, thereby improving the userfriendliness.

And still further, the following processes are performed on the batterypack side of the present invention. If it is recognized that thebiometric feature information of the object person is identical with thereference biometric feature information of the authorized user by usingthe input section, the extracting section, and the comparing/verifyingsection, the personal data read-out section reads out the personal datafrom the storage section. After that, still on the battery pack side,the read-out personal data is carried by the signal synthesizing circuitonto a power supply voltage as a voltage signal to be sent from thebattery pack to the main body. On the main body side, the signalseparating circuit separates and picks up the personal data from thepower supply voltage and the converting section converts the separateddata into a key-input-pattern signal for the main body. With thisconstruction, it is possible to provide the mobile electronic apparatusand the battery pack with a function of protecting or guarding theauthorized user's personal data stored in the mobile electronicapparatus by using biometric information.

In other words, it is possible to protect or guard the authorized user'spersonal data stored in the mobile electronic apparatus by usingbiometric information, which is free of being stolen or faked. Forexample, the user must be verified using finger print information beforesending the personal data to the main body, whereupon an access to thepersonal data is permitted in the main body, thus guaranteeing a highestdegree of security.

Therefore, it is possible with ease to associate the storage sectionprotected by the biometric user verification with the mobile electronicapparatus merely by replacing an existing battery pack with the batterypack of the present invention having the input section, the extractingsection, the comparing/verifying section, the storage section, thepersonal data read-out section, and the signal synthesizing circuit,without the risk of impairing the mobility of the mobile electronicapparatus and without making any modification to hardware, thusimproving the user friendliness.

At that time, since the personal data is carried onto a power supplyvoltage by the signal synthesizing circuit, and is then, on the mainbody side, separated and picked up from the voltage by the signalseparating circuit, the power supply terminal for the battery pack canserve as both a power supply and an interface at the same time, thusmaking it possible to transmit the personal data from the input sectionto the main body with no need for any arrangement made in theconstruction. Accordingly, it is resultantly possible to add and extendan additional function to the existing mobile electronic apparatus,without the need for an interface to be newly equipped in hardware, orwithout making any change in the design of the apparatus.

Further, since the personal data, which is separated by the signalseparating circuit, is converted by the converting section into akey-input-pattern signal treated in the main body, it is possible tokeep the compatibility between the personal data and the signal inputthrough a keyboard originally equipped to the main body, thereby makingit possible to treat these signals without discrimination.

As a preferred feature, the battery pack may have the memory sectionstoring previously obtained reference biometric feature information.With this construction, it is possible to discriminate whether or notthe object person is the authorized user, whose reference biometricfeature information is stored in the memory section.

As another preferred feature, the attachment part/battery pack(replacement part) may have a medium interface section adapted to beoperatively connected with a portable memory medium (IC card, etc.)which stores previously obtained reference biometric feature informationand also has a feature information read-out section for reading out thereference biometric feature information from the portable memory mediumthrough the medium interface section. With this construction, it ispossible to discriminate whether or not the object person is theauthorized user, whose reference biometric feature information is storedin the portable memory medium.

As still another preferred feature, the attachment part/battery pack(replacement part) may have a communications section for receiving thereference biometric feature information from an external apparatus. Withthis construction, it is possible to discriminate whether or not theobject person is the authorized user, whose reference biometric featureinformation is given from the external apparatus.

As a further preferred feature, a battery may be replaceable withanother one. With this construction, even when the battery itselfbecomes wearing out, the user can continue to use the battery packhaving a new function by only replacing the battery with another.

Other objects and further features of the present invention will beapparent from the following detailed description when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a mobile electronicapparatus of a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a second embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a third embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a signal synthesizing circuit (addercircuit) according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a signal separating circuit(subtracter circuit) according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a fourth embodiment;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are diagrams respectively illustrating an interfacesection according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a first modification (a first modification of the interfacesection) of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a second modification (a second modification of theinterface section) of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a third modification (a third modification of the interfacesection) of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a fourth modification of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram schematically showing a first example of auser verifying section of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically showing a second example of theuser verifying section of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram schematically showing a first modified formof the second example of the user verifying section of the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram schematically showing a second modified formof the second example of the user verifying section of the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram schematically showing a third example of theuser verifying section of the fourth embodiment; and

FIG. 18 is a block diagram schematically showing the mobile electronicapparatus of a fifth modification of the fourth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

Various preferred embodiments of the present invention will now bedescribed in detail below with reference made to relevant accompanyingdrawings.

(1) First Embodiment

FIG. 1 shows a mobile electronic apparatus of a first embodiment. Themobile electronic apparatus 10A of the first embodiment, which iscarried by an authorized user to perform various processes to varioustypes of electronic information, has a battery power supply casing(battery pack) 10 b, which is detachablly attached to a main body 10 aof the apparatus 10A (part for performing a predetermined function). Tocite examples in the market, there are internet appliances such as cellphones, mobile electronic information terminals, and Personal DigitalAssistants (PDAs). In this instance, the main body 10 a comprises a CPU,ROM, RAM, LCD, and keys (push/press buttons) (not shown in the drawing),which are interconnected by a bus line.

The power supply casing (hereinafter, also called battery pack) 10 b hasa battery 10 c lodged therein for supplying electric power to theabove-mentioned devices, which are equipped in the main body 10 a. Theelectric power of the battery 10 c is fed from the battery pack 10 bside to the main body 10 a side via a power supply terminal 13. And, inthe first embodiment, the battery 10 c is detachable from the batterypack 10 b.

The battery pack 10 b has an extended I/O device section (input/outputsection) 30 formed integrally with the battery pack 10 b. The extendedI/O device section 30 inputs/outputs various data (information) to/fromthe mobile electronic apparatus 10A and is provided for expanding theI/O function originally given to the main body 10 a, or for addingadditional I/O functions.

Concretely, the followings are examples of the extended I/O devicesection 30: a keyboard (third embodiment (FIG. 3)), pen tablet, displaydevice (LCD), image-taking device (camera), disk drive, memory device(second embodiment (FIG. 2)), network device, and a user verifyingsection (fourth embodiment (FIGS. 6 through 18)).

The battery pack 10 b also has a data communications section 11, whichsends data input from the extended I/O device section 30 to the mainbody 10 a, and which receives data from the main body 10 a and theninputs the received data to the extended I/O device section 30.

At that time, electric power is supplied from the battery 10 c to thedata communications section 11 and to the extended I/O device section30. In other words, in the first embodiment, the data communicationssection 11 and the extended I/O device section 30 shares the battery 10c as a common power source with the main body 10 a.

The main body 10 a also has a data communications section 12, whichreceives data from the battery pack 10 b (extended I/O device section30, data communications section 11) and then sends the received data tothe CPU or the RAM (not shown).

And, an interface (I/F) section 20, which is disposed between the mainbody 10 a and the battery supply casing 10 b, transfers input/outputsignals (data communications) between the extended I/O device section 30(data communications section 11) and the main body 10 a (datacommunications section 12).

In use, the followings are examples of the interface section 20: anoptical communications section (reference number 21 of FIGS. 2, 7, 8),which receives/sends optical signals as the input/output signals; aradio communications section (reference number 22 a, 22 b of FIG. 9),which sends/receives radio signals as the input/output signals; aconnector or an electric contact (reference number 23 of FIG. 10), whichis connected between the battery pack 10 b and the main body 10 a; and acable (not shown) connecting the extended I/O device section 30 (datacommunications section 11) and a connector terminal (not shown) of themain body 10 a.

When extending an I/O function of the mobile electronic informationterminal, an additional external apparatus having a new I/O function isnormally connected to the mobile electronic information apparatus via acable so that the use of the mobile electronic information apparatus islimited to desktop use despite of its name “mobile”.

In an ordinary mobile electronic apparatus such as a cell phone, abattery pack, which is detachably mounted to the cell phone, is replacedby another when it becomes wearing out (for example, when the workabletime of the battery is very short even after fully recharged).

In the mobile electronic apparatus 10A of the first embodiment (also inthe mobile electronic apparatus 10B, 10C, 10D, 10D-1 through 10D-5 ofthe embodiments described later), the extended I/O device section 30 forrealizing a new I/O function or extending the present input/outputfunction of the main body 10 a, is formed integrally with the batterypack 10 b, which is detachably attached to the main body 10 a, therebymaking the extended I/O device section 30 also attached to the main body10 a.

At this state, data communication is performed between the extended I/Odevice section 30 and the main body 10 a via the interface section 20.

Therefore, it is possible to add and extend various types ofuser-expected I/O functions to an existing mobile electronic apparatusin a simple manner, namely, only by replacing an existing battery pack,which is detachably attached, with another battery pack 10 b to whichthe extended I/O device section 30 for realizing the expected I/Ofunction is equipped, without the risk of impairing the mobility of themobile electronic apparatus 10A and without making any modification tohardware of the main body 10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10,thus improving the user friendliness in a great degree.

Further, the extended I/O device section 30 formed integrally with thebattery pack 10 b, which is attached to the main body 10 a, alsofacilitates the preparation of the interface section 20 between theextended I/O device section 30 and the main body 10 a.

Furthermore, since the battery 10 c is shared as a power source amongthe data communications section 11, the extended I/O device section 30,and the main body 10 a, it is unnecessary to prepare another powersupply dedicated for the extended I/O device section 30.

Still further, since only the battery 10 c is detachable from thebattery pack 10 b, the user can continue to use the battery pack havingthe extended I/O function by only replacing the battery 10 c withanother even when the battery itself becomes wearing out.

(2) Second Embodiment

FIG. 2 shows a mobile electronic apparatus of a second embodiment. Themobile electronic apparatus 10B of the second embodiment, which is alsocarried by an authorized user to perform various processes to varioustypes of electronic information, has a battery power supply casing(battery pack) 10 b, which is detachably attached to a main body 10 a ofthe apparatus 10B. To cite examples in the market, there are internetappliances such as cell phones, mobile electronic information terminals,and PDAs. Like reference numbers designate similar parts or elementsthroughout several views, so their detailed description is omitted here.

In the mobile electronic apparatus 10B of the second embodiment,however, a small-sized hard disk section 31 is built in the battery pack10 b as a integral part to serve as the extended I/O device section 30of the first embodiment, and an optical communications module (opticalcommunications section) 21 is equipped to serve as the interface section20 of the first embodiment.

The optical communications module 21, which is formed in such a manneras described later with reference made to FIG. 8 in the fourthembodiment, is disposed where the battery pack 10 b contacts with themain body 10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10B and receives/sendsI/O signals from/to the hard disk section 31 in the form of opticalsignals such as infrared rays. Via this optical communications module 21(and the data communications sections 11, 12), desired data is writtenfrom the main body 10 a side to the hard disk section 31 while the datastored in the hard disk section 31 is readout to the main body 10 a.

With this construction, in the mobile electronic apparatus 10B, the harddisk section 31 is formed integrally with the battery pack 10 b, whichis detachably attached to the main body 10 a, thereby making the harddisk section 31 also attached to the main body 10 a.

At this state, data communication is performed between the hard disksection 31 and the main body 10 a via the optical communications module21.

Therefore, it is possible to add and expand the amount of the memory ofan existing mobile electronic apparatus in a simple manner, namely, onlyby replacing an existing battery pack, which is detachably attached,with another battery pack 10 b having the hard disk 31, without the riskof impairing the mobility of the mobile electronic apparatus 10B andwithout making any modification to hardware of the main body 10 a of themobile electronic apparatus 10B, thus improving the user friendliness ina great degree. And also, in the second embodiment, since the opticalcommunications module 21 is employed as the interface, it would be madeeasy to use a camera or a display likely to be provided to the batterypack 10 b as an integral part.

Additionally, since the battery 10 c is shared as a common power sourceamong the data communications section 11, the hard disk section 31, andthe main body 10 a, it is unnecessary to prepare another power supplydedicated for the hard disk section 31.

Still further, since only the battery 10 c is detachable from thebattery pack 10 b, the user can continue to use the battery pack 10 bhaving the hard disk section 31 by only replacing the battery 10 c withanother even when the battery 10 c itself becomes wearing out.

(3) Third Embodiment

FIG. 3 shows a mobile electronic apparatus of a third embodiment; FIG. 4shows the details of a signal synthesizing circuit (adder circuit) ofthis embodiment; and FIG. 5 shows the details of a signal separatingcircuit (subtracter circuit) of this embodiment. Like reference numbersdesignate similar parts or elements throughout several views, so theirdetailed description is omitted here.

The mobile electronic apparatus 10C of the third embodiment, which isalso carried by an authorized user to perform various processes tovarious types of electronic information, has a battery power supplycasing (battery pack) 10 b, which is detachably attached to a main body10 a of the apparatus 10C. To cite examples in the market, there atecell phones and mobile electronic information terminals. The main body10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10C has keys such as push/pressbuttons (not shown), a signal (keyboard signal) input through which keysis input to the keyboard signal input section 70 in a predeterminedform.

In the mobile electronic apparatus 10C of the third embodiment, however,an extended keyboard section (input section) 32 is mounted to thebattery pack 10 b as an integral part to serve as the extended I/Odevice section 30 of the first embodiment, and a signal synthesizingcircuit 40, a signal separating circuit 50, a data converting section60, and a keyboard signal input section 70 are equipped in place of thedata communications sections 11, 12 and the interface section 20 of thefirst embodiment.

A key-input signal input from the extended keyboard section 32 is sentto the main body 10 a via a power supply terminal (DC terminal) 13,which is electrically connected between the battery pack 10 b and themain body 10 a for supplying electric power from the battery 10 c to themain body 10 a.

For this purpose, the signal synthesizing circuit 40 is equipped to thebattery pack 10 b while the signal separating circuit 50, the dataconverting section 60, and the keyboard signal input section 70 areequipped to the main body 10 a.

The signal synthesizing circuit 40 carries the key-input signal (outputdata signal, signal pulse) which is input from the extended keyboardsection 32, onto a power supply voltage (output voltage), which is fedfrom the battery 10 c to the main body 10 a, in the form of a frequencymodulation (FM) signal or an amplitude modulation (AM) signal. FIG. 4shows an exemplary signal synthesizing circuit 40, which is formed as anadder circuit (for adding the key-input signal and the power supplyvoltage) constituted by two operational amplifiers 41, 42 having avariable resister circuit (VR). After being synthesized with thekey-input signal by the signal synthesizing circuit 40, the power supplyvoltage is fed to the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13 asnormal, thereby sending the key-input signal from the battery pack 10 bto the main body 10 a.

The signal separating circuit 50 separates the key-input signal from thethus obtained synthesized signal (power supply voltage) received fromthe battery pack 10 b. That is, the signal separating circuit 50separates a key-input signal component and a power supply component.FIG. 5 shows an exemplary signal separating circuit 50, which is formedas an subtracter circuit (for subtracting a normal power supply voltage,which is separately sent, from the synthesized signal obtained bysynthesizing the key-input signal and the power supply voltage)constituted by two operational amplifiers 51, 52 having a variableresister circuit (VR).

The data converting section 60 converts the form of the key-inputsignal, which is separated by the signal separating circuit 50, into thesame form as that of a key-input signal input to the main body 10 a(keyboard signal of the main body 10 a side) and inputs the resultantsignal to the keyboard signal input section 70.

With this construction, in the mobile electronic apparatus 10C, theextended keyboard section 32 is formed integrally with the battery pack10 b, which is detachably attached to the main body 10 a, there bymaking the extended keyboard section 32 also attached to the main body10 a.

At this state, the key-input signal, which is input from the extendedkeyboard section 32, is carried onto the output voltage, which is fedfrom the battery 10 c, in the form of a frequency modulation (FM) signalor an amplitude modulation (AM) signal to produce the synthesizedsignal. The synthesized signal is then sent to the main body 10 a viathe power supply terminal 13. On the main body 10 a, the signalseparating circuit 50 separates the synthesized signal received from thebattery pack 10 b into a power supply component and an input data signalcomponent.

After that, the separated input data signal component, or the outputsignal from the extended keyboard section 32, is converted into akey-input-pattern signal (keyboard signal) of a predetermined formbefore input to the keyboard signal input section 70.

In this manner, since it is possible to keep the compatibility betweenthe output signal (key-input signal) from the extended keyboard section32 and the input data signal input through the keys (push/press buttons)of the main body 10 a, the output of the extended keyboard section 32can be input to the keyboard signal input section 70 without beingdiscriminated from the above-mentioned keyboard signal input through thekeys.

Therefore, it is possible to greatly expand the key-input functionoriginally equipped to the main body 10 a in a simple manner, namely,only by replacing the existing battery pack, which is detachablyattached to the main body 10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10C,with another battery pack 10 b to which the extended keyboard section 32is equipped, without the risk of impairing the mobility of the mobileelectronic apparatus 10C and without making any modification to hardwareof the main body 10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10C, thusproviding significantly improved user friendliness.

Further, since the input signal from the extended keyboard section 32 iscarried onto a power supply voltage by the signal synthesizing circuit40, and is then, on the main body 10 a side, separated and picked upfrom the voltage by the signal separating circuit 50, the power supplyterminal 13 for the battery pack 10 b can serve both as a power supplyand as an interface at the same time, thus making it possible to sendthe key-input signal from the extended keyboard section 32 to the mainbody 10 a without making any arrangement in the construction.Accordingly, it is resultantly possible to send the input signal fromthe extended keyboard section 32 to the main body 10 a, without the needfor an interface newly equipped in hardware, or without making anychange in the design of the existing mobile electronic apparatus.

Furthermore, also in the third embodiment, since only the battery 10 cis detachable from the battery pack 10 b, the user can continue to usethe battery pack having the extended keyboard section 32 by onlyreplacing the battery 10 c with another even when the battery itselfbecomes wearing out.

In the above description of the third embodiment, the input sectionmounted to the battery pack 10 b was exemplified by the extendedkeyboard section 32. Alternatively, the input section maybe a camera, atable, or a user verifying device. In that case also, the signal is sentto the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13, and like resultsand effects to those of the third embodiment can be achieved. Adescription will be made later in the fourth embodiment with referenceto FIGS. 11 and 18, of an example in which the input section is the userverifying device and in which the signal output from the user verifyingdevice is sent to the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13.

(4) Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 6 shows a mobile electronic apparatus of a fourth embodiment. Themobile electronic apparatus 10D of the fourth embodiment, which is alsocarried by an authorized user to perform various processes to varioustypes of electronic information, has a battery power supply casing(battery pack) 10 b, which is detachably attached to a main body 10 a ofthe apparatus 10D. To cite examples in the market, there are cell phonesand mobile electronic information terminals. Like reference numbersdesignate similar parts or elements throughout several views, so theirdetailed description is omitted here.

In the mobile electronic apparatus 10D of the fourth embodiment,however, a user verifying section 100 is built in the battery pack 10 bas a integral part to serve as the extended I/O device section 30 of thefirst embodiment. The user verifying section 100 verifies an objectperson by using biometric information (fingerprint, palmprint, fingershape, hand shape, voiceprint, retina, iris, facial recognition,signature dynamics, blood vessel pattern, key strokes, etc.) and outputscorresponding information in response to the verifying result. The dataoutput from the user verifying section 100 is then sent from the batterypack 10 b side to the main body 10 a via the interface section 20 (andthe data communications sections 11, 12).

Precisely, the user verifying section 100 is constructed in such amanner as described later with reference made to FIGS. 13 through 18(reference numbers 100A, 100B, 100B-1, 100B-2, 100C).

An exemplary interface section 20 of the fourth embodiment will bedescribed later with reference made to FIGS. 7 through 11.

Further, when a fingerprint is used as the biometric information toverify a user, the following data is sent from the user verifyingsection 100 to the main body 10 a:

a) fingerprint feature information for verification extracted from thefingerprint information (described later with reference to FIG. 13);

b) fingerprint verification result data (described later with referenceto FIGS. 14 through 16);

c) personal data (personal identification code (PIC) and account, etc.)readout in response to the fingerprint verification result (describedlater with reference to FIG. 17).

With this construction, in the mobile electronic apparatus 10D, the userverifying section 100 is formed integrally with the battery pack 10 b,which is detachably attached to the main body 10 a, thereby making theuser verifying section 100 also attached to the main body 10 a.

At this state, the verification result data output from the userverifying section 100 is sent from the battery pack 10 b to the mainbody 10 a via the interface section 20.

Therefore, it is possible to associate the user verification functionutilizing biometric information (fingerprint) with the mobile electronicapparatus 10D in a simple manner, namely, only by replacing the existingbattery pack, which is detachably attached to the main body 10 a of theexisting mobile electronic apparatus 10D, with another battery pack 10 bto which the user verifying section 100 is equipped, without the risk ofimpairing the mobility of the mobile electronic apparatus 10D andwithout making any modification to hardware of the main body 10 a of themobile electronic apparatus 10D. Thereby, it is possible to most easilyadd to the mobile electronic apparatus 10D the user verificationfunction that effectively realizes various types of verificationprocesses, which have nowadays been introduced in conventional mobileelectronic apparatus, thus improving the user friendliness.

Further, also in the fourth embodiment, since the battery 10 c is sharedas a common power source among the data communications section 11, theuser verifying section 100, and the main body 10 a, it is unnecessary toprepare another power supply dedicated for the user verifying section100.

Still further, since only the battery 10 c is detachable from thebattery pack 10 b, the user can continue to use the battery pack 10 bhaving the user verifying section 100 by only replacing the battery 10 cwith another even when the battery itself becomes wearing out.

(4-1) Interface Section

FIGS. 7 and 8 show respectively an interface section of the fourthembodiment. In these examples, the optical communications module(optical communications section) 21 the same as that of the secondembodiment is provided as the interface section.

The optical communications module 21, which is disposed where thebattery pack 10 b and the main body 10 a contact, transfers opticalsignals (IrDA), such as infrared rays, between the battery pack 10 b andthe main body 10 a. Data output from the user verifying section 100 issent from the battery pack 10 b to the main body 10 a via the opticalcommunications module 21 (and the data communications sections 11, 12)in the fourth embodiment.

In the optical communications module 21, as shown in FIG. 8, a lightemitting module (LED for optical communications) 21 a and a lightreceiving module (photo acceptance element) 21 b are provided in pairsto the battery pack 10 b and the main body 10 a, respectively, in orderto send the data from the battery pack 10 b to the main body 10 a in theform of optical signals. Where as a light emitting module (LED foroptical communications) 21 c and a light receiving module (photoacceptance element) 21 d are provided in pairs to the main body 10 a andthe battery pack 10 b, respectively, in order to send the data from themain body 10 a to the battery pack 10 b in the form of optical signals.

Such a type of optical communications module 21 used as the interfacesection would eliminate the protrusion of a terminal, such as anconnector, from the main body 10 a or the battery pack 10 b toward theoutside.

As it suffices that the data from the user verifying section 100 is sentfrom the battery pack 10 b to the main body 10 a, the opticalcommunications module 21 needs to have at least the light emittingmodule 21 a and the light receiving module 21 b.

(4-2) First Modification of Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 9 shows a first modification of the mobile electronic apparatus(first modification of the interface section) of the fourth embodiment.The mobile electronic apparatus 10D-1 of FIG. 9 has radio communicationssections 22 a, 22 b to serve as the interface section. The radiocommunications sections 22 a, 22 b are provided to the battery pack 10 band the main body 10 a, respectively, to transfer the data (data outputfrom the user verifying section 100 in the present embodiment) in theform of radio signals between the battery pack 10 b and the main body 10a. Like reference numbers designate similar parts or elements throughoutseveral views, so their detailed description is omitted here.

Since the radio communications sections 22 a, 22 b serves as theinterface section, thereby eliminating the need for any specialconstruction for realizing the interface section, it is unnecessary tomake any modification to the shape of the casing of the main body 10 aand the battery pack 10 b.

(4-3) Second Modification of Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 10 shows a second modification of the mobile electronic apparatus(second modification of the interface section) of the fourth embodiment.The mobile electronic apparatus 10D-2 of FIG. 10 has an electric contact(connector) 23 to serve as the interface section. The electric contact23 is connected between the battery pack 10 b and the main body 10 a totransfer the data (data from the user verifying section 100 in thepresent embodiment) therebetween. Like reference numbers designatesimilar parts or elements throughout several views, so their detaileddescription is omitted here.

(4-4) Third Modification of Fourth embodiment

FIG. 11 shows a third modification of the mobile electronic apparatus(third modification of the interface section) of the fourth embodiment.The mobile electronic apparatus 10D-3 of FIG. 11, like the mobileelectronic apparatus 10C of the third embodiment, has the signalsynthesizing circuit 40, the signal separating circuit 50, the dataconverting section 60, and the keyboard signal input section 70 in placeof the data communications sections 11, 12 and the interface section 20of FIG. 6. In other words, the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-3 of FIG.11 is equipped with the user verifying section 100 in place of theextended keyboard section 32 of the mobile electronic apparatus 10C ofFIGS. 3 through 5. Like reference numbers designate similar parts orelements throughout several views, so their detailed description isomitted here.

With this construction of the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-3, thedata output from the user verifying section 100 is sent from the batterypack 10 b to the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13, whichis electrically connected between the battery pack 10 b and the mainbody 10 a for supplying electric power from the battery 10 c to the mainbody 10 a.

Precisely, the data output from the user verifying section 100 iscarried onto an output voltage of the battery 10 c by the signalsynthesizing circuit 40 in the form of an FM modulation signal or an AMmodulation signal to make a synthesized signal, which is sent to themain body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13. On the main body 10 aside, the synthesized signal received from the battery pack 10 b isseparated into a power supply component and a data signal component bythe signal separating circuit 50.

The data signal thus separated from the synthesized signal is convertedby the data converting section 60 into a key-input-pattern signal(keyboard signal) of a predetermined form and then input to the keyboardsignal input section 70.

Hereby, since it is possible to keep the compatibility between the dataoutput from the user verifying section 100 and the input data signal,such as passwords, input through the keys (push/press buttons) of themain body 10 a, the data output from the user verifying section 100 canbe input to the keyboard signal input section 70 without discriminatedfrom the above-mentioned keyboard signal input through the keys.

(4-5) Other Modification of Interface

A cable (not shown) connecting the user verifying section 100 (datacommunications section 11) and the connector terminal (not shown) of themain body 10 a may be used as another interface section.

(4-6) Fourth Modification of Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 12 shows a fourth modification of the mobile electronic apparatusof the fourth embodiment. The mobile electronic apparatus 10D-4 of FIG.12 is constructed the same as the mobile electronic apparatus 10D ofFIG. 6 and additionally has an external interface section 80 built inthe battery pack 10 b as an integral part. Like reference numbersdesignate similar parts or elements throughout several views, so theirdetailed description is omitted here.

The external interface section 80 is connected with an informationdevice 90, such as a mobile electronic information terminal and apersonal computer, other than the main body 10 a, to transfer databetween the information device 90 and the user verifying section(input/output section, input section) 100. The data transferredtherebetween is, for example, data output from the user verifyingsection 100 (fingerprint feature information for verification,verification result, and personal data) and the setting information ofthe user verifying section 100 (extended I/O device section 30, etc.).

With this construction, it is possible to access from the informationdevice 90 to the user verifying section 100 (extended I/O device section30, etc.) via the external interface section 80 to make a change in thesetting state of the user verifying section 100. Moreover, it is alsopossible to directly output to the information device 90, the data(signal from the extended I/O device section 30) output from the userverifying section 100, via the external interface section 80, thusfurther improving the user friendliness.

In this instance, the external interface section 80 may be equipped tothe above-mentioned mobile electronic apparatus 10A through 10D, 10D-1through 10D-3, and also to the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-5described later.

(4-7) First Example of User Verifying Section

Examples of such user verifying sections of the fourth embodiment willnow be described with reference to FIGS. 13 through 17.

FIG. 13 shows a first example of the user verifying section of thefourth embodiment. The user verifying section 100A of FIG. 13 comprisesan input section 110 and an extracting section 120, for verifying a userby using biometric information (fingerprint, palmprint, finger shape,hand shape, voiceprint, retina, iris, facial recognition, signaturedynamics, blood vessel pattern, key strokes, etc.). In the followingdescription, a fingerprint is employed as exemplary biometricinformation.

The input section 110 measures and inputs fingerprint information (imagedata of a fingerprint) of an object person to be verified.

From the fingerprint information thus measured and input, the extractingsection 120 extracts fingerprint feature information for verifying theobject person. Here, the fingerprint feature information extracted fromthe fingerprint information (image data of the fingerprint) is thecoordinates of such points as ridge dividing points (minutiae), ridgeend points (minutiae), ridge crossing points, the fingerprint core, anddeltas, and ridge directions, distances between minutiae, the number ofridges between minutiae, and so on.

The user verifying section 100A is equipped to the battery pack 10 b,and the fingerprint feature information of the object person extractedby the extracting section 120 is sent from the battery pack 10 b side tothe main body 10 a via the interface section 20 or the signalsynthesizing circuit 40 so that the fingerprint feature information ofthe object person can be verified on the main body 10 a side.

(4-8) Second Example of User Verifying Section

FIG. 14 shows a second example to the user verifying section of thefourth embodiment. The user verifying section 100B of FIG. 14 furthercomprises a storage section 130 and a comparing/verifying section 140 inaddition to the above-mentioned input section 110 and extracting section120.

The storage section 130 stores previously obtained reference fingerprintfeature information of the authorized user of the mobile electronicapparatus.

The comparing/verifying section 140 compares/verifies the fingerprintfeature information of the object person, which is extracted by theextracting section 120, with the reference fingerprint featureinformation stored in the storage section 130 to discriminate whether ornot the fingerprint feature information to be verified satisfies apredetermined matching condition with respect to the referencefingerprint feature information. If the result of the discrimination ispositive, the fingerprint feature information of the object person,which has been extracted by the extracting section 120, is judgedmatching the authorized user's. In this instance, the predeterminedmatching condition is such that the rate (degree) of matching betweenthe biometric feature information to be verified and the referencebiometric feature information is larger than a predetermined value.

The user verifying section 100B is equipped to the battery pack 10 b,and the result of the verification performed by the comparing/verifyingsection 140 is sent from the battery pack 10 b side to the main body 10a via the interface section 20 or the signal synthesizing section 40 sothat, in reply to the result of the fingerprint verification,corresponding processes can be performed on the main body 10 a side.

(4-8-1) First Modification to Second Example of User Verifying Section

FIG. 15 shows a first modification to the second example of the userverifying section of the fourth embodiment. In the user verifyingsection 100B-1 of FIG. 15, previously obtained reference fingerprintfeature information is stored or registered in a portable memory medium,or an IC card 131. For this purpose, an IC card interface section 132and a feature information read-out section 133 are provided in place ofthe storage section 130.

The IC card interface section (medium interface section) 132 isconnected with the IC card (portable memory medium) 131 in which thepreviously obtained reference fingerprint feature information has beenregistered or stored. The feature information read-out section 133 readsout from the IC card 131 the reference fingerprint feature informationvia the IC card interface section 132 to send the readout information tothe comparing/verifying section 140.

With this construction, the user verifying section 100B-1 verifieswhether or not the object person is the authorized user whosefingerprint feature information is registered in the IC card 131 as thereference fingerprint feature information.

At that time, as a portable memory medium, various types of memory mediarather than the IC card may be used, being exemplified by a memory card,such as an optical card and a BioCard (commercially available with tradename), a Smart Media (trade name of Toshiba Corporation), and a MemoryStick (trade name of SONY Corporation).

(4-8-2) Second Modification to Second Example of User Verifying Section

FIG. 16 shows a second modification to the second example of the userverifying section of the fourth embodiment. In the user verifyingsection 100B-2 of FIG. 16, the reference fingerprint feature informationis received from the external apparatus by wireless. For this purpose, afeature information read-out section 133 and a communications section134 are provided in place of the storage section 130.

The communications section 134 receives the reference fingerprintfeature information from the external apparatus by wireless, whichinformation is then readout by the feature information read-out section133 for being output to the comparing/verifying section 140.

With this construction, the user verifying section 100B-2 verifieswhether or not the object person is the authorized user whosefingerprint feature information is received via the communicationssection 134 from the external apparatus as the reference fingerprintfeature information.

(4-9) Third Example of User Verifying Section

FIG. 17 shows a third example of the user verifying section of thefourth embodiment. In the user verifying section 100C of FIG. 17 furthercomprises a storing section 150 and a personal data read-out section 160in addition to the input section 110, the extracting section 120, thestorage section 130, and the comparing/verifying section 140.

The storing section 150 stores previously obtained personal data of theauthorized user of the mobile electronic apparatus such as, a PICincluding a password, PIN, or a secret key; account informationcorresponding to the PIC, including an account name, an ID, a computername, or an IP address (more specifically, a bank account number); and asystem name corresponding to the account information (more specifically,a bank name, application name, computer name, etc.); the healthinsurance certificate number; and medical information.

As the result of comparison of the finger print feature information ofthe object person and the reference fingerprint feature information, ifthe comparing/verifying section 140 recognizes the fingerprint featureinformation of the object person matching the reference fingerprintfeature information, the personal data read-out section 160 readouts thepersonal data stored in the storing section 150.

The user verifying section 100C is equipped to the battery pack 10 b,and the personal data, which is readout by the personal data read-outsection 160, is sent from the battery pack 10 b side to the main body 10a via the interface section 20 or the signal synthesizing circuit 40 sothat the mobile electronic apparatus 10D, 10D-1 through 10D-5 are addedwith the function of managing the authorized user's personal data storedin the storing section 150 by fingerprint verification.

Therefore it is possible to protect and guard the personal data byverifying a user with fingerprint information (biometric information),which is free from being stolen or faked by an unauthorized user. Forexample, the user must be verified using a fingerprint before thepersonal data is sent to the main body 10 a side, thus enabling anaccess to the personal data, thereby guaranteeing a highest degree ofsecurity.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, also in the user verifying section 100C,the storage section 130 may be substituted by the IC card interfacesection 132 and the feature information read-out section 133, or by thefeature information read-out section 133 and the communications section134, so that the reference biometric feature information (referencefingerprint feature information) is received from an external apparatus.

(4-10) Fifth Modification of Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 18 shows a fifth modification of the mobile electronic apparatus ofthe fourth embodiment. The mobile electronic apparatus 10D-S of FIG. 18has the user verifying section 100C of FIG. 17 to serve as the userverifying section 100 of the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-3 of FIG.11. Like reference numbers designate similar parts or elementsthroughout several views, so their detailed description is omitted here.

With this construction of the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-5, thepersonal data, which is readout by the personal data read-out section160 of the user verifying section 100C, is sent from the battery pack 10b to the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal (DC terminal) 13,which is electrically connected between the battery pack 10 b and themain body 10 a for supplying electric power from the battery 10 c to themain body 10 a.

Precisely, the personal data readout from the user verifying section100C is carried onto an output voltage of the battery 10 c by the signalsynthesizing circuit 40 as data signal in the form of an FM modulationsignal or an AM modulation signal to produce a synthesized signal, whichis then sent to the main body 10 a via the power supply terminal 13. Onthe main body 10 a side, the synthesized signal received from thebattery pack 10 b is separated into a power supply component and a datasignal component by the signal separating circuit 50.

The thus separated data signal, or the personal data, is converted intoa key-pattern signal (keyboard signal) having a predetermined form, bythe data converting section 60 before being input to the keyboard signalinput section 70.

Hereby, since it is possible to keep the compatibility between thepersonal data from the user verifying section 100C and the input datasignal input through the keys (push/press buttons) of the main body 10a, the personal data, such as a password, from the user verifyingsection 100C can be input to the keyboard signal input section 70without being discriminated from the above-mentioned keyboard signalinput through the keys.

In this manner, the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-5 becomes operableto manage and preserve the authorized user's personal data stored in thestoring section 150 by fingerprint verification. Namely, it is possibleto protect and guard the personal data by verifying a user withfingerprint information, which is free from being stolen or faked by anunauthorized user. For example, the user must be verified usingfingerprint information before sending the personal data to the mainbody 10 a, thereby an access to the personal data is permitted in themain body 10 a, thus guaranteeing a highest degree of security.

Therefore, it is possible to associate the storing section 150, which isguarded by user verification with fingerprint information, with themobile electronic apparatus 10D-5 in a simple manner, namely, only byreplacing the existing battery pack, which is detachably attached, withanother battery pack 10 b to which the user verifying section 100C isequipped, without the risk of impairing the mobility of the mobileelectronic apparatus 10D-5 and without making any modification tohardware of the main body 10 a of the mobile electronic apparatus 10D-5,thereby providing significantly improved user friendliness.

At that time, since the personal data is carried onto a power supplyvoltage by the signal synthesizing circuit 40, and is then, on the mainbody 10 a side, separated and picked up from the voltage by the signalseparating circuit 50, the power supply terminal 13 of the battery pack10 b can serve as both a power supply and an interface at the same time,thus making it possible to transmit the personal data from the batterypack 10 b to the main body 10 a side without making any change in thepresent construction. It is thus resultantly possible to add anadditional function, or user verification, to the existing mobileelectronic apparatus, without the need for an interface newly equippedin hardware, or without making any change in the design of the mobileelectronic apparatus.

(5) Various Other Modifications

The present invention should by no means be limited to theabove-illustrated embodiments, and various changes or modifications maybe suggested without departing from the gist of the invention.

In the above description of the fourth embodiment, fingerprints are usedas an example of biometric information. Alternative types of biometricinformation may be used; for example, iris, retina, palmprint, handshape, voiceprint, facial recognition, signature dynamics, blood vesselpattern, key strokes may be either individually or in any combination.

Further, as substitute for biometric information, a single-sign-onverification using a long password may be employed so that the longpassword can be used for verifying a user when the biometric informationcannot be used for a reason.

And further, although the attachment part of the mobile electronicapparatus is a battery pack in the above embodiments, the presentinvention should by no means limited to this.

1. A mobile electronic apparatus which is able to be carried by anauthorized user for performing various electronic information processes,comprising: a main body; an attachment part detachably attached to saidmain body for performing a predetermined function when attached to saidmain body; an input section, formed integrally with said attachmentpart, for measuring biometric information of an object person to beverified and inputting the measured biometric information; an extractingsection, which is formed integrally with said attachment part andoperatively connected with said input section, for extracting biometricfeature information from said biometric information, which is measuredand input by said input section, for verification of the object person;and an interface section, disposed between said main body and saidattachment part, for sending said biometric feature information fromsaid extracting section to said main body.
 2. A mobile electronicapparatus which is able to be carried by an authorized user forperforming various electronic information processes, comprising: a mainbody; an attachment part detachably attached to said main body forperforming a predetermined function when attached to said main body; aninput section, formed integrally with said attachment part, formeasuring biometric information of an object person to be verified andinputting the measured biometric information; an extracting section,formed integrally with said attachment part and operatively connectedwith said input section, for extracting biometric feature informationfrom said biometric information, which is measured and input by saidinput section, for verification of the object person; acomparing/verifying section, formed integrally with said attachment partand operatively connected with said extracting section, for verifyingthe object person by comparing said biometric feature informationextracted by said extracting section with reference biometric featureinformation about the authorized user which information is previouslyobtained; and an interface section, disposed between said main body andsaid attachment part, for sending the result of verification by saidcomparing/verifying section to said main body.
 3. A mobile electronicapparatus which is able to be carried by an authorized user forperforming various electronic information processes, comprising: a mainbody; an attachment part detachably attached to said main body forperforming a predetermined function when attached to said main body; aninput section, formed integrally with said attachment part, formeasuring biometric information of an object person to be verified andinputting the measured biometric information; an extracting section,formed integrally with said attachment part and operatively connectedwith said input section, for extracting biometric feature informationfrom said biometric information, which is measured and input by saidinput section, for verification of the object person; acomparing/verifying section, formed integrally with said attachment partand operatively connected with said extracting section, for verifyingthe object person by comparing said biometric feature informationextracted by said extracting section with reference biometric featureinformation about the authorized user which information is previouslyobtained; a storing section, formed integrally with said attachmentpart, for storing personal data of the authorized person; a personaldata read-out section, formed integrally with said attachment part andoperatively connected with said storing section and saidcomparing/verifying section, for reading out said personal data fromsaid storing section when said biometric feature information of theobject person is identical with said reference biometric featureinformation of the authorized user as the result of verification by saidcomparing/verifying section; and an interface section, disposed betweensaid main body and said attachment part, for sending to said main bodysaid personal data, which is read out from said storing section by saidpersonal data read-out section.
 4. A mobile electronic apparatus whichis able to be carried by an authorized user for performing variouselectronic information processes, comprising: a main body; a batterypack detachably attached to said main body for performing apredetermined function when attached to said main body; an inputsection, formed integrally with said battery pack, for measuringbiometric information of an object person to be verified and inputtingthe measured biometric information; an extracting section, formedintegrally with said battery pack and operatively connected with saidinput section, for extracting biometric feature information from saidbiometric information, which is measured and input by said inputsection, for verification of the object person; a comparing/verifyingsection, formed integrally with said battery pack and operativelyconnected with said extracting section, for verifying the object personby comparing said biometric feature information extracted by saidextracting section with (previously registered) reference biometricfeature information about the authorized user; a storing section, formedintegrally with said battery pack, for storing personal data of theauthorized person; a personal data read-out section, formed integrallywith said battery pack and operatively connected with said storingsection and said comparing/verifying section, for reading out saidpersonal data from said storing section when said biometric featureinformation of the object person is identical with said referencebiometric feature information of the authorized user as the result ofverification by said comparing/verifying section; a signal synthesizingcircuit, formed integrally with said battery pack and operativelyconnected therewith, for carrying said personal data, which is read outby said personal data read-out section, onto a supply power voltage fromsaid battery pack to said main body as a voltage signal; a signalseparating circuit, mounted on said main body, for separating saidvoltage signal carried on said supply power voltage to pick up saidpersonal data; and a converting section, mounted on said main body, forconverting said personal data, which is separated and picked up by saidsignal separating section, into a key-input-pattern signal.
 5. A mobileelectronic apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a storagesection, formed integrally with said attachment part, for storing saidreference biometric feature information which is previously obtained. 6.A mobile electronic apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising astorage section, formed integrally with said attachment part, forstoring said reference biometric feature information which is previouslyobtained.
 7. A mobile electronic apparatus according to claim 4, furthercomprising a storage section, formed integrally with said battery pack,for storing previously obtained said reference biometric featureinformation which is previously obtained.
 8. A mobile electronicapparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a medium interfacesection adapted to be operatively connected with a portable memorymedium which stores said reference biometric feature informationpreviously obtained; and a feature information read-out section,operatively connected with said medium interface section, for readingout said reference biometric feature information from said portablememory medium via said medium interface section; said medium interfacesection and said feature information read-out section being formedintegrally with said attachment part.
 9. A mobile electronic apparatusaccording to claim 3, further comprising: a medium interface sectionadapted to be operatively connected with a portable memory medium whichstores said reference biometric feature information previously obtained;and a feature information read-out section, operatively connected withsaid medium interface section, for reading out said reference biometricfeature information from said portable memory medium via said mediuminterface section; said medium interface section and a featureinformation read-out section being formed integrally with saidattachment part.
 10. A mobile electronic apparatus according to claim 4,further comprising: a medium interface section adapted to be operativelyconnected with a portable memory medium which stores said referencebiometric feature information previously obtained; and a featureinformation read-out section, operatively connected with said mediuminterface section, for reading out said reference biometric featureinformation from said portable memory medium via said medium interfacesection; said medium interface section and a feature informationread-out section being formed integrally with said battery pack.
 11. Amobile electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said portablememory medium is an IC card.
 12. A mobile electronic apparatus accordingto claim 9, wherein said portable memory medium is an IC card.
 13. Amobile electronic apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said portablememory medium is an IC card.
 14. A mobile electronic apparatus accordingto claim 2, further comprising a communications section, formedintegrally with said attachment part, for receiving said referencebiometric feature information from an external apparatus.
 15. A mobileelectronic apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising acommunications section, formed integrally with said attachment part, forreceiving said reference biometric feature information from an externalapparatus.
 16. A mobile electronic apparatus according to claim 4,further comprising a communications section, formed integrally with saidbattery pack, for receiving said reference biometric feature informationfrom an external apparatus.
 17. A mobile electronic apparatus accordingto claim 4, wherein said battery pack includes a battery which isdetachable and replaceable.